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This apparently took a mere 1500 hours to create.
Now confess. How many of you spent at least that long trying to master some of these games?
Who could have guessed? Just like who could have guessed those who created the financial mess would get a vast portion of the bailout? It’s almost as if bribes… sorry, I keep doing that… I mean campaign contributions and such were involved. Yeah, I know. Crazy talk!
Lashed by liberals and threatened with more government regulation, the insurance industry nevertheless rallied its lobbying and grass-roots resources so successfully in the early stages of the healthcare overhaul deliberations that it is poised to reap a financial windfall.
The half-dozen leading overhaul proposals circulating in Congress would require all citizens to have health insurance, which would guarantee insurers tens of millions of new customers — many of whom would get government subsidies to help pay the companies’ premiums.
“It’s a bonanza,” said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates Inc.
Some insurance company leaders continue to profess concern about the unpredictable course of President Obama’s massive healthcare initiative, and they vigorously oppose elements of his agenda. But Laszewski said the industry’s reaction to early negotiations boiled down to a single word: “Hallelujah!”
The insurers’ success so far can be explained in part by their lobbying efforts in the nation’s capital and the districts of key lawmakers.
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John and Adam discuss the news of the day from an international perspective
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Running time: approx. 90 mins.
Government health officials are mobilizing to launch a massive swine flu vaccination campaign this fall that is unprecedented in its scope — and in the potential for complications.
The campaign aims to vaccinate at least half the country’s population within months. Although more people have been inoculated against diseases such as smallpox and polio over a period of years, the United States has never tried to immunize so many so quickly.
This is so funny:
Among the unknowns: how many shots people will need, what the correct dosage should be, and how to avoid confusing the public with an overlapping effort to combat the regular seasonal flu.
What I fear:
The campaign is haunted by memories of the government’s ill-fated 1976 effort to vaccinate against swine flu. The epidemic fizzled, but the vaccine was given to 40 million people and blamed for causing a rare paralyzing disorder known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Another wild card will be whether the vaccine will be delivered with an “adjuvant” to boost its effectiveness or stretch limited supplies into more doses. Adjuvants have been used in Europe, but the Food and Drug Administration has not authorized their use in the United States.
You can read the entire article here.
I’d be curious what these stats would show in other countries.
On aspects of everyday life ranging from mental acuity to physical dexterity to sexual activity to financial security, a new Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey on aging among a nationally representative sample of 2,969 adults finds a sizable gap between the expectations that young and middle-aged adults have about old age and the actual experiences reported by older Americans themselves.
These disparities come into sharpest focus when survey respondents are asked about a series of negative benchmarks often associated with aging, such as illness, memory loss, an inability to drive, an end to sexual activity, a struggle with loneliness and depression, and difficulty paying bills. In every instance, older adults report experiencing them at lower levels (often far lower) than younger adults report expecting to encounter them when they grow old. At the same time, however, older adults report experiencing fewer of the benefits of aging that younger adults expect to enjoy when they grow old, such as spending more time with their family, traveling more for pleasure, having more time for hobbies, doing volunteer work or starting a second career.
Looking for what companies to invest in during this economy?
What we’re buying — and not buying — says a lot about how consumers are feeling these days.
It also says a lot about the American economy, considering that consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of all U.S. economic activity. Every time we go out to lunch, buy a new sweater or pick up a DVD, we’re contributing to the retail sector, the biggest sector in the economy.
This week, companies from Home Depot to Target to Saks reported results for their latest quarters. Some were strong, some were weak. All tell tales of the consumer: thrifty, staying close to home, and focusing on basics.
Here’s a look at what people are and aren’t buying.
HOME – WHAT WE’RE BUYING: People are buying more garden products and paint, especially in areas with high foreclosure rates like California, according to Home Depot. CEO Frank Blake told investors that as homes are sold as part of the foreclosure process, that spurs sales of paint and carpet upgrades, since owners want to improve their new homes.
[…]
WHAT WE’RE NOT: Home Depot said consumers continued to limit their purchases of bigger items like appliances.
For more, read the article. Some things seem obvious. Some things aren’t.
31379p.pdf application/pdf Object — If you ever want to read a government report, read this. The mainstream media has been taking bits and pieces from this report over the last week or so but never linking readers to the report itself. Here it is. Outstanding.
A new wrinkle in the dispute over his birth – and whether he is eligible to be president under the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that the president be a “natural born” citizen – appeared today when Obama’s official MySpace page declared his age is 52, thus placing his birth year at 1957 instead of 1961 as has been claimed.
That would mean he would have been born during the archipelago’s time as a territory of the U.S., the islands’ status from about 1900 until statehood in 1959. The birth year also conflicts with campaign and other White House information that have discussed his 48th birthday this month.
This is probably a mistake or some intern messing up, but no response yet from the White House. If this is true (which again, I don’t think so), Obama can’t be the president. The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states,
“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”
We will probably see a lot more of this story this week.
Between the RIAA and MPAA with the DMCA and this, when did government become the policeman for business? If someone makes or buys a fake, copies a CD or whatever, isn’t it the responsibility of the company to sue the person rather than have government goons do the work for them? I guess if you have the money for bribe… er, um… lobbyists then you can get government to do anything. In other words, coming to the U.S. soon.
Holidaymakers could be fined thousands of pounds – or even jailed – for buying fake designer goods when abroad, copyright lawyers are warning.
Authorities in France and Italy are not just targeting those who produce and sell fakes but also those who buy them. In France, the maximum fine is 300,000 euro (£260,000) or three years in jail.
[…]
Intellectual property lawyer Simon Tracey said anyone tempted to bring back items such as fake designer sunglasses, a football top or handbag from their holidays should beware. He said lots of people have already been fined thousands of euros for owning a fake, and France seemed “a little bit harsher” than Italy. But he said it was hard to persuade people that owning a fake was “a bad thing”.“The problem is, it is an intellectual theft, so therefore it’s much harder to explain to people that it is wrong, but in reality – as a matter of social responsibility – it is just as bad as stealing.”
“If you’re brilliant, work really hard, and earn a world-class doctorate from a US university,
IBM has a job for you at one of its US research sites — as a ‘complementary worker‘ (as this 1996 piece defined the then-emerging term). But be prepared to ship out to India or China after you’ve soaked up knowledge for 13 months as a ‘long-term supplemental worker.’ Newsweek sketches some of the bigger picture, reporting that IBM, HP, Accenture, and others are finding it profitable to detach from the United States (even patenting the process). ‘IBM is one of the multinationals that propelled America to the apex of its power, and it is now emblematic of the process of creative destruction pushing America to a new, less dominant, and less comfortable position.'”
WASHINGTON – Talk-show host Sean Hannity, a vocal opponent of Barack Obama’s policies, said today he would not rule out a bid for the presidency in 2012. Egged on by radio colleague Bill Cunningham, Hannity said he would consider entering the front lines of the political fray if God directs him. “I’ve never made a decision in my life without – whatever destiny God has you’ve got to fulfill it,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s my destiny.” Hannity would make a formidable candidate, with the likability of Reagan, good looks and strong convictions. He’s also a polished communicator and knows the issues inside out.
And he can debate.
Hannity hosts the second-largest radio program in America, after Rush Limbaugh, and a highly rated nightly TV show on the Fox News Channel. While Obama’s approval ratings have been plummeting in his first year in office, no clear Republican frontrunner has emerged. The candidates most often considered viable include Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Hannity’s Fox News colleague Mike Huckabee. Cunningham, one of Hannity’s guests during a visit to Cincinnati today, said the nation and the Republican Party need Hannity.
Later in the program, a member of the audience asked what the host thought of a Hannity-Palin ticket.
The studio audience erupted in applause.
Hannity asked: “Would any of you really want me to run?”
Loud applause followed.
This proves God is a Republican…..and that Sean has a thing for loose women.
At about 8:00pm Sunday night, as he was waiting to depart at JFK, a Delta Airlines pilot spotted something strange floating through the early afternoon sky, seemingly coming down to land on runway 22R. He radioed the control tower, reporting what “looks like a guy on a paraglider” approaching the airport.
The controller then warned nearby pilots to look out for a “kite.” Shortly after, the Delta pilot radioed back in to say that the paraglider had touched down, dropped something off, and quickly took off into the night sky. “Looks like he hit the ground, dropped something off. Now he’s airborne again,” the pilot reported, adding, “I guess it ah, looks like some guy on a parachute.” The unidentified object/person then took off in the direction of oncoming traffic.
The location of the supposed touch-down was “near the Varig cargo building, on the northern border of the airport, adjacent to the approach paths for 22R and 22L,” FlightGlobal.com reports, but after authorities reportedly searched the area, they “found no trace of the UFO.”
YouTube user aeronauticstud who posted the tower communications sums up the incident, writing, “Something flew over 22L and 22R causing an American 767 to go around 22L to avoid it. Later ended up closing 22R for 5 Police helicopters to search for him and forcing several aircraft to divert due to being restricted to one runway. Seemed to come down to about 10-20 feet off the cargo ramp possibly dropping an object and then climbing to 1000 feet flying outbound on a 030hdg on an active final approach!”
Paragliding Suicide Bombers!!! Everyone panic!
This video contains nudity and is NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
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